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The Promised Neverland (Japanese: 約束のネバーランド, Hepburn: Yakusoku no Nebārando) is a 2020 Japanese film directed by Yūichirō Hirakawa and produced by Fuji Television, Shueisha and Toho. It is an adaptation of the manga series of the same name, created by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu and published by Shueisha.

The Promised Neverland
Theatrical release poster
Japanese	約束のネバーランド
Hepburn	Yakusoku no Nebārando
Directed by	Yūichirō Hirakawa Jun Shiozaki[lower-alpha 1]
Written by	Noriko Goto
Based on	The original graphic novel The Promised Neverland by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu published by Shueisha
Produced by	Ken Murase Miho Kobayashi
Starring	Minami Hamabe Jyo Kairi Rihito Itagaki Keiko Kitagawa Naomi Watanabe
Cinematography	Keisuke Imamura
Edited by	Nobuyuki Ito
Music by	Masahiro Tokuda
Production companies	Office Crescendo Fuji TV
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	December 18, 2020 (2020-12-18)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	$17.7 million[1]

Plot

Emma and her siblings, all orphans, were placed in a special orphanage, known as Grace Field House when they were very young. Although their freedom is limited and the rules are sometimes a bit strict, the children lead happy lives at Grace Field House orphanage, and the woman they call "Mom" takes care of them, and gives them all the love a mother could give her children. But one evening, after the departure of one of their siblings, Emma and Norman discover that the children of this orphanage are actually being raised as livestock for demons, with the consent of their "Mom". To survive, they will have to be resourceful and try to escape.

Cast

Production

Development

The film was announced in September 2019, with a planned release date in December 2020.[2][3][4] it was announced that Yūichirō Hirakawa would direct the film with Noriko Gotou handling the film's script. The film stars Minami Hamabe as Emma, Jyo Kairi as Ray, Rihito Itagaki as Norman, Keiko Kitagawa as Isabella and Naomi Watanabe as Krone. The casting for Krone was met with controversy as the character is depicted being black in the manga and anime, while Watanabe herself is Japanese.[5][6][7] Some things have been changed from the original story, such as the maximum age at which orphans are "shipped" being raised from 12 to 16 and the appearance of Peter Ratri, played by Tori Matsuzaka.[8][9][10]

Filming

Production took place in Japan, and the filming occurred in the Important Cultural Property of Japan. The Grace Field House was photographed by adding a set to Tenkyokaku in Inawashiro Town, Fukushima Prefecture,[11][12] the scenes such as the forest around the house was taken in Nagano Prefecture, Chino, Fujimi and Ina.[13]

Music

Japanese rock band Zutomayo performed the film's theme song "Tadashiku Narenai" (正しくなれない, "It Can't Be Right").[14] Masahiro Tokuda composed and scored the original motion-picture soundtrack, which is compiled into one whole soundtrack.

Release

Theatrical

The Promised Neverland was released nationwide in Japanese theaters on December 18, 2020. The film was also released in Vietnam on January 15, 2021 and in South Korea on April 7, 2022.[15]

Television broadcast

The film was first broadcast on Fuji TV on April 2, 2022.[16]

Home media

The Blu-ray and DVD for the film, including a special edition, was release in Japan on May 19, 2021.[17][18] As of January 2022, The Promised Neverland is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video Japan.[19][20]

Reception

Box office

The film earned 288 million Yen (2.49 million USD) in its opening two day weekend, selling over 219,000 tickets. The cumulative total of three days from the first day was 373 million Yen (3.22 million USD) with 284,000 tickets sold.[21] As of March, 2021, the film earned ¥2,03 billion ($17.7 million).[15]

Critical response

The Promised Neverland had an average rating of 3.2/5 based upon 10,589 reviews from review aggregator Filmarks.[22] The film has a score of 3.1/5 on Eiga.com, based on 383 reviews.[23] Writer Hideyuki Nakazawa gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, and describes it as "Watched with zero prior knowledge of the original comic. I thought it was a fantasy full of dreams and adventures for boys and girls, but it turned out to be a hard-hitting allegorical dystopia. A cruel secret hidden behind a peaceful orphanage where the children's bright smiles never cease. It was a hell disguised as a utopia. Boys and girls who know the fact try to escape to change their future and destiny. A false paradise that literally preys on innocent young people is like a mirror of modern Japanese society".[24] The film was also praised by the author Manabu Soma, giving it a 4/5 and praising its story and characters, saying " As a fan of the original work, I was worried about the age difference between the character settings and the actors, and the depiction of "demons", but the former was cleared by changing the settings, and the latter was overcome with CGI, and the story up to the escape from the house was skillfully summarized. It depicts in detail how difficult it is to escape, and is well-made as a thrilling escape play. The heroine Emma's strong feelings of "I don't want anyone to die" are also pulsating, and the drama is also very good. In that sense, the film adaptation accurately captures the spirit of the original work".[25] The movie writer Kentaro Muramatsu also gave a positive review, by praising the performance of the main characters and the nature of the story. He added : "It is a movie of a genre that can be said to be a demon of demons even among Japanese movies, but it is quite worth seeing. I think that it is largely due to the persuasive power of Minami Hamabe, who plays the main role, and the presence of Keiko Kitagawa, who should be called the back star. This kind of films is a little, please try it".[26]

Bryan Tan from Yahoo! Life gave the film a positive review and a 4 out of 5 stars, citing: "The Promised Neverland movie adaptation imitates its manga counterpart with great surgical precision; every twist and turn in the plot was followed religiously by director Yuichiro Hirakawa with very little creative deviation. It is perhaps the most respectful homage one can pay to a series that has succeeded superbly in the manga/anime world, standing in stark contrast to other live-action movies like Bleach or Death Note that have flopped miserably".[27] Cezary Strusiewicz of Crunchyroll wrote, "In Yuichiro Hirakawa’s The Promised Neverland, hopelessness and resignation are alluring and tempting, and it is heartbreaking watching such young characters seemingly give in to them. At the same time, it also makes it that much sweeter when it turns out that they stood strong and still retained hope. These emotionally packed scenes are also when the actors deliver their hands-down best performances in the movie. The Promised Neverland is a story about the triumph of hope, which feels exactly like what we need right now. If that sounds like something you would enjoy, definitely check out the live-action adaptation".[28]

Si Jia of Geek Culture gave it a 7.6 out of 10 rating and called it "Despite suffering from some creative missteps, The Promised Neverland is a polished take on an anime live-action adaptation that delivers in the areas that matter".[29] Jeanmarie Tan of The New Paper praised the film and gave it 4 out of 5, stating: "Aside from exaggerated performances and iffy CGI rendering of the monsters that inhabit their world, this dark fantasy wields a shocking premise that poses provocative questions and provides edge-of-seat twists and thrills".[30] Manfred Selzer of Asian Movie Web gave it a 6 out of 8, and describes the film as "Director Yuichiro Hirakawa composes wonderful pictures for this fairytale-like drama-thriller, and the soundtrack is also outstanding. The demons have a grotesque look that could come right out of a picture book, and the special effects are impressive all the way through as well. The sets, especially the orphanage, are also well-chosen. The Promised Neverland is definitely something for the eye. In the end, this manga adaptation is one of the successful ones, and especially if you can't compare it with the original, The Promised Neverland is a clear recommendation".[31]

Accolades

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Result	Ref.
2022	VFX-JAPAN Awards	Excellence Theatrical Film Award	Won	[32]
		Best Theatrical Film Award	Nominated	[33]

See also

• List of films based on manga

Notes

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• The Promised Neverland at IMDb
• The Promised Neverland at Rotten Tomatoes

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